In an MSNBC interview that went viral on the internet, a gay Florida kindergarten teacher says he is hurt after Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law an anti-grooming bill.
“Personally, my kids do have questions,” said Cory Bernaert, a teacher of 5-year-olds. “They want to know who my partner is in pictures outside my classroom, and I should be able to speak to that.”
“That’s what we do as educators,” he continued. “We build relationships with our kids, and in order to build relationships, you talk about your home life, you talk about what you do on the weekends. That’s building community. It scares me to death that I’m not going to be able to have these conversations with my children, because they’re going to ask me what I did on the weekend.”
The bill has been labeled “Don’t Say Gay” by the political left, but it doesn’t use the word “gay” in the text.
“I don’t want to have to hide that my partner and I went paddle-boarding this weekend,” he said, “because then they ask, ‘well, what does partner mean, Mr. Bernaert?’ I’m worried – can I tell them what it means? I’m also worried for my kids. I have a little girl this year who has two moms, and the kids are curious about her two moms. They want to know about her two moms. If they go to her and ask her about her two moms, and she doesn’t know what to say, they’re going to come to me and ask me, so what am I going to do?”
DeSantis defends the bill as a “parents’ rights bill.”
“Parents’ rights have been increasingly under assault around the nation, but in Florida we stand up for the rights of parents and the fundamental role they play in the education of their children,” he said during its signing Monday. “Parents have every right to be informed about services offered to their child at school, and should be protected from schools using classroom instruction to sexualize their kids as young as 5 years old.”
Not all members of the LGBT community agree with Bernaert.
Brandon Straka, a prominent gay conservative, said he is happy HB 1557 passed.
He also asked questions of an opponent of the bill.
“1. What 5-year-old is asking whether or not it’s OK to be LGBT?” he asked. “2. We live in the most LGBT affirming society in history. It’s not even safe anymore to express a negative opinion about LGBT people. So where would a young person even get the idea that it’s NOT OK?”
1. What 5 year old is asking whether or not it’s ok to be LGBT?
2. We live in the most LGBT affirming society in history. It’s not even safe anymore to express a negative opinion about LGBT people. So where would a young person even get the idea that it’s NOT ok? https://t.co/iuIZVNOBMX
— Brandon Straka (@BrandonStraka) March 29, 2022
Dave Rubin is also a gay conservative. He has defended the bill numerous times.
“You work for a left-wing propaganda outlet, The Washington Post, which lies about literally everything. In your tweet here you call the bill ‘Don’t Say Gay’. Is that phrase, or the word ‘gay’ in the bill? Simple yes or no will suffice …” he told Paul Waldman of The Washington Post.
You work for a left wing propaganda outlet, The Washington Post, which lies about literally everything. In your tweet here you call the bill ‘Don’t Say Gay’. Is that phrase, or the word ‘gay’ in the bill? Simple yes or no will suffice… https://t.co/uWuxNLLzSk
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) March 30, 2022
He also said he canceled Disney Plus, the company’s streaming service after the company said its goal is to get HB 1557 repealed or struck down in court.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
